The Cat Issue
by Executortionist
Summary: Between cat chasing, dramatics, and a thirst for some company other than the couple of close friends he has, Genesis finds just what he's looking for, and perhaps a little more. Light Slash.


**Pairing**: Genesis/Cloud

**Summary: **Between cat chasing, dramatics, and a thirst for some company other than the couple of close friends he has, Genesis finds just what he's looking for, and perhaps a little more. Light Slash.

**Title**: The Cat Issue

**Prompt**: A cat jumped off the balcony (for Thunder of Friendship)

**A/N:** Hi! This is a story for one of my most loyal reviewers (who gives splendid reviews on my only multi-chapter fanfic)! So yeah, I hope this is to your satisfaction! There's also a bit of a bonus at the end (teehee I can't stop won't stop)

I also, once again, admit that I don't own FFVII.

* * *

Genesis's cat was missing again. For the fifth time that week his beloved little black cat had run off, leaving his frustrated owner behind to an empty, lonely apartment. If anything, Genesis missed when his little friend would rub against his legs and meow cutely when he got home from missions or a long day at the office.

It made him depressed. Genesis figured his little cat, by the name of Sebastian, must have gotten tired of his company and left for someone elses. That thought didn't just make him sad though, it also made a rage build inside him like no other.

How dare that cat leave him! He had been the one to rescue it on a mission, take care of it and feed it, and give it cuddles _and_ read to it when everything was quiet or he had a day off. It was so unsettling that Genesis felt he couldn't even look for his little friend. Instead, he was left to wait, and wait… and wait.

The waiting was killing him. Genesis, under normal circumstances, wasn't a very patient man at all. On more than one occasion he had lost his temper and injured a select few ShinRa employees, mainly the shy, stuttering cadets who couldn't even look him in the face and speak. It was a horrible pet peeve of his. He just hated the way they paled and tripped over themselves in his presence, and while it was sometimes amusing to see, it made him feel quite… out of place. It was like he couldn't walk around the building anymore without people gaping and pointing and _whispering_. Didn't their mothers' teach them it was rude to whisper behind people's backs?

Well, it was no matter; Genesis didn't want to associate with them anyway. He'd much rather stick with his close group of not _stuttering, wimpy half-wits_. Admittedly though, that group only consisted of Angeal and Sephiroth, and the latter of which was more of a rival, an obstacle he'd set for himself to surpass.

But back to his cat, who was _still_ missing. As Genesis got ready to settle down for the night, he noticed the frown on his face and scowled to himself in the mirror. At this rate, his irritation would not allow him to sleep; he would have to read half the night to fall asleep.

At least tomorrow was a day off for him. He even had made plans to score the entire building for his cat. If Hojo had gotten a hold of his little fuzzball… well, he would rather like to say a proper goodbye rather than not know what had happened in the first place. Perhaps Hojo, in the end, would hand him an enhanced animal.

Who was he trying to kid? Hojo would probably hand him Sebastian's heart instead.

Genesis shuddered in horror as his thoughts continued down that road, and he hurriedly tried to wipe his mind of such thoughts by pulling out his most precious piece of reading material; LOVELESS. The old piece of literature was his favourite and something of a trademark for him. _Everyone_ knew he carried at least one copy with him at all times, if not to relieve boredom than to torture all who were within hearing distance with it. He was quite aware that not everyone was a fan.

So, cracking open his book and shaking off his disturbing thoughts, Genesis began to read.

_When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end…_

* * *

The brave soul that held the red commander's cat… had no idea whose cat it was. In fact, he had no idea that ShinRa even allowed pets within the building; wasn't anyone allergic? He supposed with all the mako going around it wouldn't matter much...

Though for the past few days, the as of yet unnamed cadet had found himself in possession of a cat; No matter how many times he shooed the animal away, it just kept coming back to the barracks he shared with several others, and much to his humiliation, they had come up with a name for him.

'Kitty Cloud' was his new title. It haunted him, in the classrooms, in the halls, on the field! He wished it would stop. His name was Cloud Strife, _not_ 'Kitty Cloud', no matter how many times they called him that. Cloud was just about ready to rip out his hair if _someone_ didn't come and claim the thing. If no one stepped forward, he would be stuck with it forever, or at least until he died on a mission somewhere.

Which was pretty much forever, for him. He would be stuck feeding it and petting it and _sleeping_ with it for the rest of his military life.

And the thing _shed_, too. Now, almost every morning Cloud was left to pick black cat hair off his uniform before going to his lessons for the day. It was annoying, and a very large hassle for him. He didn't even know why it kept coming back! What did it want from him?

Ugh, Cloud would need to get rid of it soon, lest it puke up a hairball in one of his boots. One of the other cadets had been talking about when his mother had brought home several stray cats, and he'd said more than once he'd go to put on one of his shoes only to find some nasty glob of what was supposed to be hair in the bottom of it. Cloud didn't want that; he wanted a nice, peaceful cadet life so he could perhaps go on to being a SOLDIER or Infantryman in the future.

SOLDIER was his dream. Cloud Strife was one of those students that would probably give almost anything to get into the elite program. If he couldn't become that, he'd be shipped off the infantrymen until he could next try out. Cloud knew he would make it though; he was strong, he wasn't unfit, and he most certainly thought he had the mindset for it. Besides, he had cool hair. All the First Class SOLDIERs had cool hair (except for Commander Hewley, but he wasn't going to say that to the man's face, or at all, really).

But the cat issue. Back to the cat issue. He didn't know how word hadn't gotten around the whole of ShinRa yet; it was unusual and Cloud figured someone would at least gossip about it. Instead, his bunkmates just laughed behind his back and didn't say a word. He was thankful for that, at least.

However, on a day that Cloud was being punished for something or other (he honestly didn't remember what he did to upset his instructor), he came across some very nerve wracking information. Literally.

He had been assigned to bring Commander Rhapsodos some reports from the cadet instructor, and while rumour had it that the man was a violent pyromaniac, Cloud decided that for once, he would let his own mind decide that for himself. Rumours weren't always true after all, and Cloud always did his best to ignore them; he'd gotten enough from the rumour mill in Nibelheim about his mother and him.

So yes, as he carried the multiple folders to the upper floors of the ShinRa building to where the offices were, he was gently permitted to enter the red clad commander's office. What he saw, however, made him pale. It wasn't noticeable due to his already pale complexion from being a mountain dweller, but if one looked closely, they could see the horror in his eyes at what he had seen.

It was the cat.

Sitting there, on Genesis Rhapsodos's desk.

Due to his lack of helmet at the time, Cloud knew the cat would recognize him and make him more memorable to his superior officer. Just as he predicted, the cat meowed and jumped off the desk, coming straight for his legs with a seemingly determined look on its face. Cloud would have taken a step back if not for the light silver-blue eyes of the Commander holding him in place. The dark look placed in those eyes made him nervous, and Cloud could do nothing but sit and await the inevitable.

The black feline placed its front paws on his legs and meowed again. Cloud, normally, would have picked up the cat at this point; it was why the cat did that, but he didn't know what to do now that he knew who's cat it was.

Cloud prayed to every holy being he knew, hoping the rumours about this person weren't true. He would be toast for sure! With shaking legs, Cloud finally managed to move, and he did so with the grace of a giraffe. He stumbled slightly while stepping away from the cat, but he thanked the planet that he stopped being so clumsy as he approached the desk. "Sir, I have some files that need to be looked over by you, from Instructor Tessa."

Cloud didn't bother looking down as he felt the paws on his legs again. Instead, he set the folders on the edge of Genesis's desk where they wouldn't fall off, and then he gave a salute. With a nod, the redhead watched with amusement as his cat tried to get the cadet to pick it up. At least he knew now who his cat was wandering off to.

"Thank you cadet, you are dismissed." He watched as the blond gave one last salute before walking, or at least trying to, out the door. It amused Genesis to no end that the cute little cadet had to nudge Sebastian with his foot to get him to stay in the office before closing the door. If his cat was wondering off to this person, then perhaps it wasn't too bad.

The cadet didn't have anything noteworthy about him, only his hair and the colour of his eyes seemed worth remembering. To Genesis, that wasn't all though; what had caught his attention (other than the horror at first) was that the cadet hadn't stuttered once, nor had he tripped or blushed or _anything_ in his presence. It was like a breath of fresh air to Genesis. He almost cursed himself for not asking the youth's name so he could do a little search on his background.

Alas, that was not something he could do yet. Sighing and glancing down at his somewhat forlorn looking cat, he recited something most fitting for the moment,

"_My friend, the fates are cruel…_"

Perhaps one day, when he saw the cadet again, he would ask for a name, and perhaps if he would like to go for coffee as well… the blond _was_ attractive, it wasn't something Genesis could deny, and he was looking forward to the time where he could find out more about him.

* * *

For weeks, Cloud continued to get visits from the cat. It was collarless, and so remained nameless to him. He almost considered calling it a name of his own, but he decided to stick with 'kitty' now that he knew just whose cat it was. He didn't tell anyone of what he'd found out; it would be frightened and humiliating all at once. They would just _assume_ that he was somehow having an affair with the Commander, he knew it.

The visits from the friendly feline were almost every day now, but by the end, the cat always left. Cloud assumed that Genesis had set some rules for his pet or something; the animal was intelligent, he figured it might be able to obey _some _commands. On a day that it didn't visit, however, Cloud got worried and paranoid. He didn't want anything happening to the kitty. Not only would he probably get punished by his Commander, but it would just ruin him emotionally. The cat was now his just as much as it was Commander Rhapsodos's.

So all day he searched for the missing cat. Cloud should have just assumed it was with Genesis, but something in his gut told him otherwise; he just had a very bad feeling about it, like someone was punching him in the stomach repeatedly.

He looked and looked, all over the building, or at least the floors he had access to. As a last resort, he told himself that he would return to Genesis's office and see if the cat was being held prisoner. If it wasn't that, he would have to try and recruit the LOVELESS fan to join in on his search.

Unfortunately, it did eventually resort to that. Cloud had been looking for a few hours, in every place he could, to find his daily visitor. It didn't take long for him to realize the cat was nowhere he could reach, and therefore he stalked toward the elevator and rose to the office floor. He didn't even bother knocking or saluting when he entered the man's office. The secretary had tried to tell Cloud that Genesis was busy, but that didn't matter to him, not when there was a potentially dead cat on their hands.

Cloud reasoned that he just didn't want the blame placed on him; he didn't want to never be friends with the First because of something that had very little to do with him. It was the cat's fault, not his! So when he entered the office in the way he did, the Commander had looked up with a slightly annoyed look on his face. Cloud was curious to see the look melt from annoyance to interest when the Genesis saw him, but he figured he could think upon it later.

"You cat is missing! Usually he comes to the barracks, right? But today he _didn't!_" Cloud fought down the great urge to whip his arm up and point dramatically at the First Class SOLDIER. The man blinked at him, but it seemed after what he said sunk in, Genesis stood in an equally dramatic, almost terrified, manner.

"_What!"_ Genesis rounded his desk and was quickly out the door. It seemed the red commander deeply cared for his pet, just like Cloud did. The split up, which was predictable, and Cloud tentatively wandered outside in hopes of finding the cat there.

It took a while of looking behind weapon sheds and in the tall grass before Cloud spotted Genesis waving frantically in a window, pointing to a place behind him where he couldn't see. Only when Genesis brought his hands up to imitate cat ears did Cloud understand. Whirling around with a sense of determination and worry, he saw exactly what Genesis had been so frantically gesturing to.

There, on the ledge of a balcony that most likely belonged to one of the department heads, was the cat they were looking for. It was terrifying for Cloud, who held the Cat's gaze for quite some time before the cat crouched down in a pose that was very familiar to the cadet, who often played with the black ball of fur.

The cat was about to pounce. In a flurry of action, Cloud ran forward and held his arms out, more intent on stopping the cat than anything else. "No, stop, stop!"

His yells did nothing to stop the animal as it jumped straight for him, just as Genesis opened the balcony door, too. Genesis, in his weird panicky way, rushed out and placed his hands on the balcony railing, a confused and slightly dazed Reeve Tuesti behind him.

With Genesis shrieking, "Sebastian!" in the background, Reeve still looking confused but now mildly interesting, and probably a number of other ShinRa employees watching from the windows surrounding the outside field, Cloud caught the cat. He made an 'oomph' noise as he took a few steps back from the weight of the cat.

Unexpectedly, Genesis also jumped from the balcony in a fit of motherly worry for his precious pet. Thankfully though, he was sensible enough not to land on the blond cat saviour known as Cloud Strife.

Which reminded him… he still did not know the name of his helper. Genesis now owed the cadet a debt for saving the life of his cat. Taking the animal in his arms, he took a deliberate step away from Cloud and gracefully raised an eyebrow at the cadet.

It seemed this had some sort of effect on the short blond, as a very light dusting of pink rose on the pale cheeks. It made him look adorable in Genesis's eyes. "Say, cadet? What's your name?"

Cloud, of course, was embarrassed that he'd never introduced himself to the man in front of him. When had his manners gotten so skewed? The military must have been doing things to him. His arms, now absent of cat, fell to his sides awkwardly, and he shifted slightly to face his commanding officer. "I'm Cloud Strife, sir." He waited for the man to laugh at his name; almost everyone he'd introduced himself to here had done so, or at least questioned his mother's sanity.

Much to his relief, Genesis didn't laugh, and instead, Cloud got a sweeping bow and a strangled meow from the cat. As Genesis was executing the act, he introduced himself with as much grace and majesty as a young king, "I am Genesis Rhapsodos, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Cloud." The man before him practically purred his name, and Cloud found heat rising to his face once more. He watched as Genesis gently placed the cat on the ground and grabbed his hand instead, apparently not done talking.

"_There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess!"_ Genesis took a step closer to the now flustered cadet and leaned down just slightly, so he was eye-to-eye with the blond. "Cloud Strife, would you do me the great honour of going on a date with me?"

Cloud was unsure just what he was supposed to think. The commander, someone who was rumoured to be short tempered, always angry, and hateful of the cadets, was asking _him_ on a date? He supposed he _had _just helped the man rescue his cat from imminent death, but still, this was _Commander Rhapsodos_. It was just… unthinkable!

But on the other hand, it was a very pleasant thought. Genesis was a very handsome man, and Cloud found himself nodding without properly thinking it through. Genesis, elated at the answer, swept Cloud into his arms, ignoring the stares and the embarrassed protests of said blond. Finally, there would be someone other than his friends to hang out with, and he knew this one in particular was not a puny, snivelling little brat.

He hoped, in the future, he would be able to recite LOVELESS to his new date during the night, while they both lay in bed cuddling. It had always been a sort of fantasy for him.

Cloud just hoped Genesis wouldn't start making dramatic declarations of his affection in highly populated places. Cloud was embarrassed enough, and no doubt everyone in ShinRa witness the spectacle of their 'cat hunt'. His bunkmates wouldn't let him live this down… but he was happy. They were both so happy, and that was all that mattered.

At least for now.

* * *

**A/N: **Now for the bonus! This is sort of a very crack-like potential alternate ending.

_Due to his lack of helmet at the time, Cloud knew the cat would recognize him and make him more memorable to his superior officer. Just as he predicted, the cat meowed A DEEP SATANIC MEOW AND JUMPED OFF THE DESK, TRANSFORMING INTO A VAMPIRE AND BITING THE LIFE OUT OF CLOUD BEFORE TURNING TO GENESIS AND MAKING SWEET SWEET LOVE TO HIM OVER HIS DESK._


End file.
